Using NDIS Funding Components and Budgets

Nightingale’s NDIS Funding Components & Budgets feature helps you divide a client’s NDIS plan into funding components, set budgets by period, track spend and upcoming services, and manage rollover between periods.

Before you begin

1. Enable the feature

This feature can only be enabled by a user with the Nightingale Admin role. If your organisation does not yet have access, contact Nightingale Support to request it.

2. Set up User Permissions

To access to this feature, ensure that the position settings below are turned on for users that require access to this feature.

3. Enable roster budget checks

To turn on roster budget checking for Funding Components, go to Organisation Settings > Roster > Rostering Settings and enable the relevant setting.

Once enabled, Nightingale checks the cost of a roster against the available funding in the applicable funding component period whenever a roster is created or edited.

This helps identify when:

• a roster falls outside a funded period
• a roster would exceed the available amount in one or more periods

How roster warnings work

If a roster exceeds the available amount in one or more funding component periods, Nightingale will still allow the roster to be created. Instead, it displays a warning so the provider can review the booking. If the roster was created in error, the appointment must be archived manually.

Note: On the same Rostering Settings page, the tick box “Prevent rosters (or invoices that draw from support funding) from being created if they will exceed the funding budget” is part of the older budget checking process. It is important to understand that this setting does not control the new NDIS Funding Components & Budgets functionality. If a support funding item is linked to a NDIS Funding Component, Nightingale uses the funding component period check instead.

Working with Funding Components

The example below shows how a user can set up and manage Funding Components for a client in Nightingale.

Client: Olivia Smith
NDIS plan dates: 1 June 2026 to 31 May 2027

Total funding amount: $100000

Olivia’s plan includes three funding components:

Funding Component	Total Component Amount	Funding Periods
Daily Living Supports	$40000	$10000 quarterly
Community Participation	$40000	$10000 quarterly
Therapy Supports	$20000	$5000 quarterly

Step 1: Create the NDIS Plan

Open the client dashboard, go to the Details>Manage Plans &Dates Rollover>Add Plan & Dates and create the NDIS Plan

Step 2: Create the Funding Components

Once the plan has been created, go to the Funding menu and select NDIS Funding Components & Budgets.

At this point:

• if the client does not have a NDIS plan, Nightingale displays a message that no plan was found
• if the client has a plan but no components yet, the page will appear blank and ready for setup

Example, for Olivia’s Daily Living Supports component:

• Select “Create Funding Component”
• enter the component name
• choose “Quarterly”
• Nightingale will automatically create four periods based on the plan dates
• enter the budget for each quarter
• click Save

Repeat this process for the remaining components.

Step 3: Review the Funding Components page

Once components are created, the page shows all funding components linked to the client’s plan in collapsible panels.

Each component includes summary values across its periods:

Tile	Meaning
Total Budget	Sum of all period budgets entered during setup.
Available	Total Budget + Rolled In − Spent − Upcoming, summed across periods.
Spent	Total cost of completed (invoiceable) attendances linked to this component.
Upcoming	Total cost of rostered (not yet attended) appointments linked to this component.

For Olivia, once setup is complete, the user can open each component and review quarter-by-quarter balances.

To make changes to a funding component, select edit on the component you want to update. Most fields are currently read only with the main field you can change is the budget for each period.

The Edit page also includes an Audit section. This shows a history of changes made to the funding component, including who made the change, what was updated, and when it was changed. It also records actions such as assigning or removing Support Funding items and updating budgets.

Budget Validation Example

A period budget cannot be reduced below the total already committed in that period through Spent and Upcoming amounts. If you enter a lower amount, Nightingale shows a validation message and will not let you save until the budget is increased.

Example:

• spent amount: $315.24
• edited budget amount: $305.00
• result: Nightingale returns the error Budget for period 01/04/2026 - 30/06/2026 cannot be less than $315.24 (already spent + upcoming, less rolled-in).

Step 4: Assign support funding to the correct component

After a funding component has been created, individual NDIS Support Funding items can be linked to it so that attendances and rosters are tracked against the correct component and funding period.

Option 1: Add a new support funding item and link it to a component

For a new support funding item, go to Dashboard>Funding>add Support Funding> select NDIS as the funding type> select “Use NDIS Funding Component”> choose the component from the dropdown> select Support Category and Support Item> Save.

 

Option 2: Recommended approach when the participant is mid-period

If a participant is already part way through a current funding period, it is strongly recommended that you begin using Funding Components from the first day of the next funding period, not mid-period. 

For example, if the participant is currently halfway through Period 2, you should start using this functionality from Period 3.This approach helps ensure period balances are accurate and avoids introducing partial-period inconsistencies into funding tracking.

For example, client Joe Bloggs is almost through Period 2 of their Core Flexible component (01/04/2026 - 30/06/2026) and has ongoing rosters running from 01/04/2026 to 01/01/2027. In this scenario, it is not recommended to assign the existing funding items to Funding Component part way through Period 2.

To do this correctly:

1. Duplicate the same item and link the new funding item to the Funding Component

   

2. Convert rosters from the first day of the next funding period onward (via Dashboard>Funding>Convert Rosters/Attendances)

   

   Once rosters are converted to funding items linked to components, Nightingale will correctly calculate the upcoming and available amounts against the linked component.

   

Step 5: Rollover unspent funds

If a funding period ends with unspent budget, you can edit the component and roll the remaining amount into the next period for the same component.

When rollover is available

The rollover option is available only when:

• the period has ended

• there is a next period

• rollover has not already been performed

When you run a rollover, Nightingale shows the calculated unspent amount and allows you to override it if needed. A reason is required for any override.

Important recommendation when starting in the next period

If you are starting to use Funding Components from the first day of a new funding period because the participant was already mid-period, review the rollover before converting rosters.

Before using the new period:

• click Edit

• override the rollover amount so the rolled-in value matches the actual remaining balance from the previous period

• once rollover has been completed, use Recalculate if spend changes later and the rolled-in amount needs to be updated

Recalculation is available only after a rollover has already been completed. All rollover and recalculation actions are recorded in the audit history.

Optional: Change or remove a component assignment

If a funding item is already linked to a Funding Component, you can change it to a different component or remove the assignment.

To do this:

• open the support funding item
• change the selected component, or clear the component assignment
• review the confirmation message
• save the change if no blockers apply

If the component is removed, the standalone budget fields become editable again and the funding item returns to standalone budget tracking.

Funding Component Warnings and Blockers

When assigning, changing, or removing a Funding Component, Nightingale may display confirmation messages. Some are warnings and still allow you to continue. Others are blockers and must be resolved before you can save.

Scenario	Type	What it means
Spent Funding	Warning	The funding item already has invoiceable attendances recorded.
Upcoming Funding	Warning	The funding item has future rosters.
Date Range Warning	Warning	The funding item dates fall outside the component date range. On confirmation, the dates are adjusted to fit.
Capacity Warning	Warning	Linking the component would exceed the available amount in one or more periods.
Rosters Error	Blocker	The funding item has rosters dated outside the selected component date range.
No Budget Configured	Blocker	The selected component has no budget periods set up.

Key points to remember

• Funding Components let you manage budget tracking at both component level and period level
• The client must have an active NDIS plan before components can be created
• Users need the correct Support Funding permissions to view or manage Funding Components
• Support funding items must be linked to a component for attendances and rosters to flow into component budget tracking
• Use NDIS Budget and Use NDIS Funding Component cannot be used together on the same funding item
• Roster checks can either block a booking or show a warning, depending on the scenario
• The older roster prevention setting does not control Funding Component period check

• If a participant is already halfway through a current funding period, begin using Funding Components from the first day of the next funding period

• When starting in a new period, convert rosters from the first day of that period onward

• Before using the new period, override and recalculate the rollover amount so the rolled-in balance reflects the true remaining amount from the previous period